Understanding Leadership – Mind Map Visualization

I created this mind map of the article Leadership theory: past, present and future, by Melissa Horner. I first organized the map according to the three themes of the article: past, present and future.

I found the process of creating this particular mind map to be somewhat onerous. I probably spent two hours mind mapping the article as I read it – a form of note taking as an alternative to annotation of the text. Were I to do it again, I would begin with a complete read-through and annotation of the text. Then I would create a mind map with a more focused purpose: the most important ideas from the "Future" section. This would leave me space and mental energy to add ideas from other sources. As it stands, I'm dissatisfied with the unwieldiness of the product, and the strict adherence to hierarchy forced by the tool. I think I'll start from scratch when I begin to synthesize ideas from multiple sources.

I used MindMup.com to create this mind map. Here are some thoughts on the pros and cons of MindMup:

Pro
The user interface is clean and simple. I was able to quickly get the hang of the controls, which allowed me to efficiently build hierarchical connections.

Con
The simplicity of the interface sacrifices flexibility. I was frustrated by being locked into linear, hierarchical connections, without any intuitive way to map other relationships (cyclical, recursive, etc)

Verdict
The lack of flexible relationships prevented me from capturing relationships in an intuitive and authentic way. This is a deal breaker. I will continue to experiment with other mind mapping tools, in the hope of finding a tool as simple and efficient as MindMup, but with more intuitive flexibility in layout and structure.